Employer Sanctions Legislation

For every business, the possibility of accidentally hiring an illegal worker – someone working without a visa or in breach of visa conditions – is increasing.

The Department of Immigration is concerned that work in breach of visa conditions has become widespread – and they have decided to take action by introducing the Employer Sanctions Legislation.

The Employer Sanctions Legislation puts the onus on businesses to thoroughly check the work rights of employees.

Most affected by the new Employer Sanctions Legislation are:

Employers: who are responsible for direct employees as well as any contractors they have working on site.

Recruitment companies: who need to check every candidate before referral to an employer.

Company directors and officers: who may be personally liable if they don’t implement adequate systems and processes to check work rights.

If a business is found to have illegal workers, the Department of Immigration can impose a fine of $16,200 – for each person in breach of visa conditions. This can rise to $81,000 per worker if they decide to take the business to court.

The Employer Sanctions Legislation allows you to establish a defence and avoid these penalties by taking ‘reasonable steps’ at ‘reasonable times’ to check visas. Undertaking a check before employment on an employee’s visa status is not sufficient under this Legislation. An employee’s visa status can change after commencement of employment consequently putting the employer at risk. For instance a working holiday maker may be able to work full time for six months, but can only work for 40 hours per fortnight if they move onto a student visa. Therefore checks need to be made through out the employment of the employee.

vSure is an all-in-one immigration compliance package. It not only protects your business from the new penalties, but gives you a better handle on the immigration status of your entire workforce.

vSure gives you the following benefits:

Check your entire workforce with a single click.

Keeps a paper trail of checks

Automated checks alert you about any problems

Take the guesswork out of immigration compliance

Reminders allow you to manage your workforce proactively

Cloud-based solution – access anywhere

vSure is a simple way of making your business compliant, giving you peace of mind and avoiding the new fines.